Agriculture

There are 667 farms in Santa Cruz County covering 99,983 acres with the average farm covering 150 acres. These farms sell $565,835,000 on the market with the crop sales covering $548,415,000 and livestock sales covering $17,420,000. The government has paid out $40,000 dollars with the average farm receiving $7,924.

The graph on the left shows the number of farms in year 2012 in different brackets of size (in acres). The graph on the right is a pie chart showing how the land on farms was being used in 2012.

​​Overall, in Santa Cruz County, the total farm production expenses in thousands of dollars is 456,027 while the net income is (in thousands of dollars) 117,449.The operators themselves are mostly male (537 men to 130 women). For 414 people farming is their primary profession while 253 have another primary profession. The average age of these operators is about 60 years and the farms are mainly operated by white people (937 operators) and Hispanics (158).Source: USDA 2012 Census of Agriculture*Census done every four years

​In 2010, there were only 2,800 acres of organic crops with a value of $26,100,000. By 2014, there are 4,058 acres of organic crops with a value of $118,872,000. ​Source: Agriculture Commissioner 2014 Crop Report